The Nutcracker

"The Nutcracker" has become the most popular ballet performed during the Christmas holiday season. It was one of seven major annual productions of the Worthington Civic Ballet and Theatre Arts Guild during the company's operation spanning four decades. This program lists the cast and scenes presented in the local production, choreographed by the company's director, Barbara Burrows.

The original story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" was written by German author E.T.A. Hoffmann. It was later adapted by French novelist Alexandre Dumas, who's version of the story was set to music by Russian composer Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky. It premired at the Maryinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia in December 1892, with original choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. It was Tchaikovsky's last ballet, and considered by him to be his less successful. Ironically, it has become exteremly popular with audiences.